Postgame extra, Harang solid

Aaron Harang could smile for the first time in a while after a start. He will have a ‘W’ next to his name after a 6-2 win over the Astros. It was his first win since Aug. 9, 2009. Coming in, he had lost 13 of his last 14 decisions.

“The biggest thing is you’ve got to ask yourself what you think was going wrong and work from that,” Harang said. “There’s probably a lot of different things you could look back and attribute to the way I was pitching. But overall the No. 1 reason getting ahead and challenging guys.”

It was a good night for the Reds because:

*Aaron Harang threw strikes and was aggressive. Lots of fastballs. In his six innings, he allowed two earned runs and eight hits with one walk and six strikeouts. 115 pitches. The big AB was in the 3rd when he struck out Lance Berkman with two outs and runners on the corners. The AB started with a 3-0 count.

“After that he went on cruise control and it was tough to get anything done,” Berkman said.

*Ryan Hanigan had a career high three RBIs, bringing his total to 10 for the season. He had 11 RBIs over 90 games in 2009.

*Jay Bruce seems to be coming around at the plate. After having three hits Sunday, he reached base four times Tuesday by going 2-for-4 with two singles, two walks and two runs scored.

*Nick Masset notched a nice 1-2-3 eighth inning for himself, with two strikeouts. Two appearances ago, he had a four-hit, four-run disaster vs. the Dodgers on April 20.

*Brandon Phillips reached with a leadoff walk in the third and got picked off first base as he was standing up with his hands on his hips. He wasn’t close to beating pitcher Bud Norris’ throw back to the bag.

*The top three of the order, including Phillips as part of the new-look lineup, was 1-for-12. Joey Votto singled in the top of the ninth.

Seen at the park: George H.W. Bush, the 41st President and a season ticket holder here, left during the sixth inning and got a standing ovation around home plate. Also — actress Melissa Gilbert, formerly of “Little House on the Prairie” was here, somewhere. She was in the seats for an interview with Fox Sports Houston.

Quotes:

“The biggest thing is you’ve got to ask yourself what you think was going wrong and work from that. There’s probably a lot of different things you could look back and attribute to the way I was pitching. But overall the No. 1 reason getting ahead and challenging guys.” — Aaron Harang

“Berkman is tough. He can hit. He hasn’t found his stroke yet. Hopefully we get out of town before he finds it.” — Dusty Baker on Lance Berkman’s third-inning AB. Berkman was 1-for-4 with a bloop double in the sixth.

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2 Comments

Mark, if you talk about the Reds people will follow this blog. I personally enjoy lineups, interesting stats, and clubhouse rumblings. this format of good, bad, and misc. etc. is nice. Your personally opinion would be nice say on the leadoff spot problems (Ks, Dickerson/Stubbs) and others would be good for conversations, if you won’t get in trouble.
Regardless, great job, great coverage!
-J. Klay

I love Brandon Phillips, but it seems he gets bored out there. He is no rookie, but sometimes he acts like he was just called up. Premature on Harang, I will admit he needs more time to get things going. How about Cabrera, Phillips 1,2 and Stubbs lower in the lineup?

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